Experts welcome Orchard Road drainage system, but say flood management is very difficult

The interior of the Stamford Detention Tank located 30m underneath Singapore Botanic Gardens. It has a capacity equivalent to 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The interior of the Stamford Detention Tank located 30m underneath Singapore Botanic Gardens. It has a capacity equivalent to 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools.ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Published
Sep 29, 2018, 5:00 am SGT
josehong@sph.com.sg

Experts have described the Stamford Diversion Canal (SDC) and the Stamford Detention Tank (SDT) as welcome moves in lowering the risk of floods in the Orchard Road area, though they added that the science of flood management remains extremely difficult.

For instance, Assistant Professor Aron Meltzner of Nanyang Technological University's Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS) said it is almost impossible to calculate how much worse the rainfall would have to be - than that in 2010 and 2011 - to overwhelm the two new works and lead to floods.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 29, 2018, with the headline 'Experts welcome system, but say flood management is very difficult'. Print Edition | Subscribe
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